My photography work takes me to a lot of places. In my elementary school yearbook, I wrote that I wanted to be a photographer. To this day I can still recall the somewhat surprised reactions to my unusual choice by the adults present. I think in this day and age, children with similar aspirations might substitute “YouTuber” for “photographer”, but the concept is the same. For the most part, I was able to realize the dream of my youth. Though there are a variety of photographers and I’m not the type I imagined as a child, I encounter many people,…
Author: Saito Hisao
The other night I stopped by Starbucks in Bashamichi on the way to my office from a studio in Chinatown. As I turned off the engine of my car, I noticed the sound of a piano. In front of the coffee shop a man was playing a piano left there for the use of the general public. (Locals will have noticed a few of these pianos placed in other places around the city.) There were not many people at the store since it was near closing time and people’s movement has been curtailed by government regulations due to the pandemic.…
In 2016, the “Julia Margaret Cameron Exhibition” was held at Tokyo’s Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, displaying the historical works of the 19th century female photographer. The other day, I received information that one of her original prints was on sale at an antiquarian bookstore in Jimbocho. My interest piqued, I excitedly made my way there. The thought of being able to see one of Cameron’s original prints with my own eyes had me rushing over in anticipation. One of the thrills of being in a bookstore such as this is that, unlike museums where you are usually separated from a work…
On September 18th and 19th, Osannomiya Hie Shrine’s annual autumn festival was held in a significantly reduced manner to prevent the spread of COVID-19. There was no large procession of mikoshi (portable shrines) this year, and each neighborhood mikoshi could not be displayed. Only representatives from each locality were allowed to privately participate in the ceremony at the shrine. Our photographers at the DARKROOM and CREW by KPS have been taking pictures of this festival throughout the years. To adjust to the changes made this year, we committed to a different approach by taking portraits of every one of the…
When you mention the Obon holidays, one usually envisions crowded tourist destinations and traffic jams on the highways. However, this year’s Obon has changed considerably due to COVID-19. Here at DRI, we usually find it difficult to take vacation time off, but this year our photographers were able to take 3 days of vacation. So I asked each of them to submit one photo from their vacation. It’s interesting how each of their personalities are conveyed in their photos. This period of “social distancing” has afforded many, us included, time for introspection. These photos clearly reflect the usually difficult…
The Covid-19 pandemic has affected everyone in all reaches of the globe. We would like to extend our deepest sympathies to all those suffering in some way. In the very near future we hope we can all return to a life of normalcy. Walking through Noge I heard a voice say, “It’s pointless to be looking down. Don’t expect to find any money that has been dropped.” Ahh, but of course. Here you just need to keep your head swiveling left and right and you’ll find a ton of fascinating things. Instead of walking while looking up, let’s…
Recently, I visited the city of Kamaishi in Iwate Prefecture. Since the natural disasters of 3/11, I feel tense when I visit the Tohoku region. While pondering the weight of those events, I’m wary as I take in the sights and sounds of the area. I arrived in Kamaishi around 9:00pm. I hadn’t eaten anything since lunch, so I walked around town in search of a place to eat. After the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami hit, many photographers, motivated by a sense of responsibility, took photos of the area from a variety of perspectives and shared them with the world.…
Recently, we held a workshop for creatives at a branding company that’s one of our clients. This workshop is customarily designed for new employees. This year, we had them go through the whole analog photography process from developing film to making 7” x 5” prints. What do people associate with the word “photograph”? If we’re talking the previous generation, then printed matter certainly comes to mind–namely images printed on photographic paper. But these days, “photographs” could suggest “image data” that might be displayed on any number of screens. I know people in their 20s think of photography that way. The…
The part of town in which I now live used to be a red light district. I am the fourth generation of my family to call this place home. One unusual aspect of my neighborhood is that the cherry blossoms bloom exceptionally early. The petals drop from the trees sooner, too. It’s almost as if the trees are telling us not to forget the dubious origins of this area with a whisper.